First time to the castle?

If this is your first time to the conference, then we have to start with WELCOME! We are thrilled that you are coming and we hope you will enjoy the conference enough to want to return in 2020 or 2022. The conference is essentially the opposite of an AERA experience. The Herstmonceux Castle is located south of London near the south coast of England (see map below) We are all together in a magical setting for four days and have the rich opportunity to meet many new people and experiences. The castle is quite isolated from local towns and shops. However, there is a pub in the castle and each night we gather there to reflect on the day's events.

We hope the following information helps with any questions you may have about attending.

Getting to HerstmonceauxYou can get to the Castle via car, bus, train and taxi. We have even had people ride their bikes: For international travellers, you fly into either Gatwick or Heathrow. The directions from there are as follows:

From HeathrowYou have options from Heathrow that include both train and bus. It is possible to take a National Express coach (about 20 pounds) from Heathrow to Gatwick (100+ buses per day), then take a train from Gatwick station to Polegate (every half hour, about 11 pounds), then take a taxi from Polegate station to the castle (about 15 pounds). Alternatively, you can catch the train into London and then buy a ticket to travel to Battle. Whichever option you choose, you will need to catch a taxi for the final leg of the trip to the castle and get dropped off at the Bader International Study Centre (which is where we are staying).

From GatwickIf you are flying into Gatwick, then all you need is the train to Polegatge and taxi to the Bader International Study Centre at Herstmonceaux castle.

Arriving and checking inOnce the taxi passes the Castle gate house and you start down the slope, keep your eyes to the right for that magical first glimpse of Herstmonceux Castle. Don't worry that you go past the castle, because you want to be dropped off at Bader Hall (the Bader International study Centre). Go to the reception and check in.

Accommodation

Bader Hall

Accommodation during the Conference is in rooms in Bader Hall, located about 500 metres from the Castle. Both ensuite and standard rooms are available. Ensuite rooms are limited in number; standard rooms have two beds and can be booked either as single or shared accommodation. We all walk back down to the Castle for meals, which are served in the dining hall of the Castle itself.

The rooms are available on Saturday, 14th July 2018 for those attending the preconference workshop or anyone who wishes to arrive a day before the conference begins. The meals on Saturday have to be organised off site at a local restaurant. The first evening meal is on Sunday 15th July.

Getting orientedWe sleep in Bader Hall and when you arrive, that is where you will check in (at “Bader Reception”). The Dining Hall, meeting rooms, and pub are all in the castle. At first it will all seem confusing because others seem to know their way better than you do, but that will soon pass.

One of the disorienting things at the start is that everyone seems to know everyone else. Don’t be dismayed to see so many people greeting each other and hugging. About half of our delegates have been to more than one conference in the past. If you find yourself feeling a bit isolated, pick someone and say “I need a hug!” In short, introduce yourself and find out why that person is interested in self-study of teacher education practices.If you are new, you may want to choose to be part of our mentoring programme (you can opt into this on the registration page).

We deliberately don't publish a map of where the conference meetings are. One of the joys of the castle is exploring and finding your own way around. Don't be afraid to wander around and visit the gardens. You can also skip a session and have a cup of tea in the tea house by the front door. We also recommend taking the opportunity to explore the Castle grounds. Take a walk through the forest and around the moat.

Mentoring programmeWe know that it can be a bit daunting if this is your first or second castle conference, so the mentoring programme is aimed at helping you make connections with others at the castle. The programme places participants into groups with experienced S-STEP colleague help build connections and get past those awkward first meetings. Each group will then meet together a few times during the conference to chat and discuss the presentations. The programme concludes on Thursday morning with a forum discussion.

Eating, drinking and being merryAll the main meals are in the Castle dining hall. Food is served cafeteria-style and you will pick up the routine quickly; there is always a vegetarian choice. Tea and coffee breaks occur both morning and afternoon in the Elizabethan Room, which gets pretty crowded, but that’s part of the fun. If you can get your drink and biscuit and move outside with the person you are chatting with, that makes space for those who arrive later. In the evenings we all gather at the Castle pub, which serves beer and wine.

On Monday evening we will have a wine tasting event that you can join in with. All you need to do is bring a favourite bottle of wine with you, prepare some tasting notes and enjoy trying the vast selection that people share. There will be a cover charge for the corkage.

On Tuesday we have our banquet in the Grand Hall. There will be a theme for the banquet, so watch the newsletters for information and come along prepared.

Fairy Dawn and Al Capone from the 'rubiks cube' theme

Pre-conference activitiesThe writing workshop is an excellent opportunity to work alongside some experienced self-study scholars and get feedback on how to develop your paper into a journal submission.

​The Sunday day trip provide an opportunity for people to get to know each other while on an adventure to one of England's heritage sights. On a bus, we tend to sit with someone we already know, but we hope you will consider taking a risk and asking someone you don’t know if you could chat with them on the bus; then sit with someone else on the return trip. During the tour of Battle and its Abbey, there are more opportunities to chat with others as you walk and take photos. You will need to buy your own lunch on this day.

Wifi AccessThere is free wifi at the Castle and this extends to the accomodation block in Bader Hall. When you first check in to your room, you will get the wifi code.

Attending sessionsIf there is a conference session that particularly interests you because of topic and/or presenter, try to get to the assigned room in good time. If a room is full because we did not guess which authors or titles would attract the greatest numbers, remember there are other presenters that would be thrilled to have you join in and increase their audience size. Even if there is space to sit, if you can see that a room already has a large audience, go looking for a room that needs a bigger audience.

Presenting a session at the castle​​The expectation for presentations are simple - just give an amazing, engaging and informative performance that keeps us talking throughout the week. Of course, many of us fall well short of this expectation. We will be sending out information on the presentation formats closer to the time, but here are a few ideas. Our presentaion slots are 50mins long. We encourage people to think creatively about how best to use this time and not fill it up with talk. We recommend aiming at a presentation of 20mins and then engaging the audience in some active way. We frequently have experiential and artistic presentations. It is also not uncommon for people to present unfinished ideas or questions and then get feedback and advice from the experts in the audience. Just remember that your paper is in the conference book, so you don't need to do an audio presentation of the written paper.

In terms of equipment, bring your laptop so you can plug into the digital projector that is in each room. If you don't bring a laptop, it is always possible to borrow one. There are also large sheets of paper in each room if you want to write notes or capture ideas. Outside of this, you need to bring any additional presentation aids with you.

When does it finish on ThursdayIt is typical that people fly out Thursday and have to time their departure from the conference accordingly. This means there is a steady stream of people leaving throughout Thursday morning. Given this, the sessions on Thursday morning are oriented around panel discussions. The conference formally finishes at around 11am.

Further questionsIf you can think of other questions that we have not answered, please send an email and we will do our best to add more details. We want you to enjoy this conference more than any other conference you have ever attended. If you have any problems with your room, the food, or the conference logistics, PLEASE mention to us right away (or scribble a note and hand it to one of us) and we’ll do our best to improve things. ​